2 of the 13 Turpin siblings held captive in their parents' 'house of horrors' speak out about the 'hell' they lived through
- Jordan and Jennifer Turpin spoke out about their experiences in their parents' "house of horrors."
- They learned basic things about the outside world from watching Justin Bieber and the show "Cops."
Two sisters who grew up captive in David and Louise Turpin's "house of horrors," where 13 siblings were starved and abused, spoke out about their experiences for the first time in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer.
Jordan and Jennifer Turpin, who are now 21 and 33, told Sawyer they ate only one meal a day, were almost never allowed outside, didn't bathe for months, and were frequently chained up for days or weeks at a time.
"The only word I know to call it is 'hell,'" Jennifer said. "We [weren't] even allowed to stand up. We were supposed to be sitting down all the time."
David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty in 2019 to torturing and abusing their children, aged 2 to 29, and were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Police and prosecutors said the Turpins shackled, beat, and starved the children in their California home. After their 2018 escape, the Turpins' minor children were placed in foster care, while the adult children had to learn basic life skills.
Jordan, who was 17 when she made a daring 2018 escape and dialed 911, said she feared she and her siblings would eventually die if they stayed. She said she climbed out a window and called police using an old cellphone.
Jordan and Jennifer said they had learned from the TV show "Cops" that they could call 911 for help and that they would need to give police proof so they wouldn't think Jordan was just a "teenager looking for attention."
Jordan took a picture of her sisters chained to a bed and showed it to the officer who responded to her call.
"That was my only chance," Jordan said. "I think it was us coming so close to death so many times."
Jordan also told Sawyer it was Justin Bieber, of all people, who inspired her to break free. She said she would secretly watch the pop star's music videos and interviews whenever her parents left the house and that Bieber taught her about the world beyond the confines of the Turpins' home.
"I don't know where we would be if we didn't watch Justin Bieber," Jordan said. "Actually, watching him — that made me learn fast, [get] smarter, because I started paying attention. I started realizing there is a different world out there."